


prom dress

by maeruth



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Genderbending, One-Sided Attraction, Prom, Teacher Galo au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24983659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeruth/pseuds/maeruth
Summary: Lio Fotia had almost everything she wanted - looks, popularity, and now a prom queen crown.So why won't Ms. Thymos evenglancein her direction? [commission]
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos, Lio Fotia/Meis
Kudos: 22





	prom dress

**Author's Note:**

> this was a commission for allie over on twitter (tithe_to_hell) who came up with prom queen fem!lio!!! go check her art out, and her kraylio ZINE !!!!

Lio’s dress was easily the most expensive in the sea of sequins and glitter that was currently flooding the gym. 

Anyone could tell by the way she carried herself. With makeup professionally packed on her face, she held her head of blonde hair high as she stepped onto the stage. Perfectly manicured fingers accepted the plastic tiara that one of the prom committee members barely remembered to buy that morning, slipping it onto her head. If you were to ask her who was crowned prom king besides her, she wouldn’t be able to tell you. 

Her eyes scanned the crowd as she posed for a photo with the prom king. Too many smiling faces, too many envious stares. 

One pair of scarlet glasses. 

Ms. Thymos gave a little wave from her spot near the bleachers, and for a moment, Lio’s smile turned genuine. The spotlight was suddenly too hot, Lio’s face flushing for the briefest of seconds before the spotlight was finally turned elsewhere and the dance resumed. 

The prom queen practically ran from the stage, taking the steps down two at a time despite her heels. Ms. Thymos was still near the bleachers, having begun talking to another faculty member, and Lio was pushing through the crowd just to get a  _ moment  _ with her -

Someone grabbed her hand, spinning her once before lightly grabbing her waist. Lio looked up into a pair of smoky eyes dripping with eyeliner. “Caught you, your highness.”

Lio’s eyes narrowed, a sigh leaving her lips. “Meis, what do you want?” 

“Oh, c’mon, Lio,” The girl said, smiling. Lio noticed her dark hair pinned back and up for once, revealing a pale neck and shoulders. “Can’t make time for your friends anymore? Or even  _ me?”  _

The blonde rolled her eyes, but let Meis lead her in a gentle sway to the music. “I’ve told you before, I’m busier than I was when we were freshmen…”

“Right, right, I forgot,” She spun her again, “Ms. Popular-Student-Council-President. You know, I don’t remember you ever saying you wanted to  _ be  _ student prez when we were freshmen.”

Lio bristled, biting her tongue. She never really had thought about it, but that was before she met Ms. Thymos. Before she discovered the best way to get closer to the faculty was to get a position on the student council. 

But Meis didn’t need to know that. 

“Things change.” Lio bit out, the urge to step on Meis’ toes almost too much to ignore. “Priorities change.”

Meis laughed suddenly, loud enough to draw stares from other couples around them. Something about the sound made Lio’s blood boil, even as she was dipped towards the dance floor. 

“Never pegged you for a teacher fetish.” Meis said, low enough that only Lio could hear. “Is she really worth it, though?” 

Lio’s blood rushed loud in her ears. She didn’t realize she was pushing the girl away until she was glaring down at Meis, black lace and silk pooled around her. Lio felt dozens of eyes bore into her, burning holes into her dress through her skin. 

“Have you ever considered I might have gotten  _ sick  _ of being around you and Gueira?” Lio snapped, hands balled at her sides tight enough to ruin her manicure, “Quit acting like you even know me. You’re -”

_ Beneath me,  _ she wanted to say. Lio barely managed to hold her tongue. 

Meis didn’t say anything to the queen leering over her. Her eyes did all the talking for her.

Lio didn’t know where she wanted to go, she just knew she suddenly needed to get  _ away _ from the wide-eyed stares and gaping mouths. She made a dash for the gymnasium doors, slamming into one with her shoulder before taking off down the hallway. 

Her first thought was the girl’s locker room to the right. Her second was Ms. Thymos’ office to the left. 

She took off down the left side of the hallway. 

Lio knew there was nothing - and no one - waiting for her there. Ms. Thymos was still in the gym as chaperone, probably having caught the tail end of… whatever that was with Meis. It made her head hurt thinking of how Meis talked to her, easy but distant. Too saccharine to be genuine, which Lio knew Meis to be, and yet it had her skin crawling to be on the receiving end of that quiet hostility. 

She felt something wet trail down her cheek, stained black. Lio scrubbed at her eyes before remembering the makeup there, groaning out a sob as more tears poured down her face. The tiara on her head suddenly felt heavier, practically falling off of her head as the queen rounded the corner to Ms. Thymos’ office. 

It was locked, of course. Lio didn’t have the energy or the mind to try picking it, settling for sitting under the bulletin board, next to the door. 

She pulled the tiara from her head, undoing the elaborate braiding her mother spent nearly a hundred dollars on. Her reflection stared back at her in the plastic gems: makeup smeared on her cheeks, blonde hair undone, eyes still wet with tears. 

Lio didn’t hear the soft footsteps approaching her, looking up from the tiara once she saw the tip of a shoe in the corner of her eye. One of the only women wearing something other than a dress that night stood in front of her, kind eyes behind scarlet frames. 

Ms. Thymos looked even prettier in the dark. 

“Here,” she said softly, handing Lio a few folded tissues she recognized to be from the girls’ bathroom down the hall, “I figured you might need them.”

Lio stared at the tissues, then shifted her gaze to Ms. Thymos. “You didn’t have to - You don’t have to be here.”

The woman shook her head, crouching down to Lio’s level on the ground. She took Lio’s hand, setting the tissues onto her palm. “They won’t miss me. I don’t like being alone when I’m upset, so I didn’t think you ought to be alone, either. I’m here for you.”

It was exactly what Lio wanted to hear, right from Ms. Thymos’ mouth, under cover of darkness in the hallway outside her  _ office _ , for Christ’s sake.

And yet. 

Hot tears welled up behind Lio’s eyes. She ducked her head, closing her hand around the tissues. “You know, Ms. Thymos…”

She shouldn’t be saying this. She had a plan, and that plan did not involve her standing up from her spot on the ground, taking steps towards the woman until she was close enough to reach for her hand. Her other hand gripped her tiara tight. 

“Have you ever noticed that I - I  _ love  _ you?” 

Lio’s heartbeat was too loud in her ears. Combined with the thrum of music coming from the gym, she could hardly hear herself breathe. 

Ms. Thymos glanced from their hands to Lio’s face, fresh with tears. Lio expected her to pull away, flinching with disgust or anger. Anything would have been better than Ms. Thymos reaching up to wipe at her tears, voice balmy and gentle -  _ too  _ gentle. 

“Hey, hey,” She said, as Lio’s bottom lip began to tremble, “It’s okay, kiddo. I love you, too. You’re one of my favorite students.”

Lio wanted to throw up. 

She drew her hand back, wiping at her eyes before turning away. “Thanks, Ms. Thymos. I, um… I’ll see you back in the gym, yeah?” 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” 

Lio nodded once before taking off again. Ms. Thymos was suddenly the last person she wanted to be around. 

Stupid, stupid,  _ stupid -  _

The bathrooms on the first floor were empty, thankfully. By that time, everyone was too busy either sucking face in the locker rooms or still on the dance floor to think about touching up their makeup or hair. 

Lio slammed the tiara down on the counter, hard enough to crack the plastic. She should have known better, should have realized sooner that Ms. Thymos would never see her as anything but a “favorite student.” Even after all the time it took to become student council president, investing time to win title of  _ prom queen _ \- something she wouldn’t have given two shits about were it not for Ms. Thymos - all of it, all of the unsent letters in her locker and candid photos suddenly didn’t  _ matter.  _

Some queen she turned out to be. 

A burst of laughter outside of the bathroom startled her out of her thoughts. The blonde made to lock the door to the bathroom until it was pushed open. 

Meis’ hair was down, now. Lio wondered when it had gotten so long. 

Lio stepped out of the way quietly, ducking her head. Meis seemed to float past her into the bathroom. 

“Gotta say,” Her voice held no malice as she produced a stick of lipstick from a pocket in her dress, “I prefer your makeup that way. Pretty grunge. Suits you more.”

Despite it all, Lio had to laugh. “My mom’s gonna kill me for ruining it. Cost her… I don’t even remember anymore. A lot.”

“I could have done your makeup for you.”

“I don’t think I can pull off all that eyeliner. Or black lipstick.”

“Don’t knock it till you try it. Here,” She gestured for Lio to come closer, placing a hand on her shoulder as she touched the lipstick to her lips, “Trying it once won’t kill you.”

Having Meis so close was jarring. Meis, who she hadn’t spoken to in a year, who she hadn’t even sat at the same  _ lunch _ table as since sophomore year. Her face had changed in small ways - her nose was more slender, her cheekbones more defined. Yet, she was applying lipstick delicately to Lio’s lips as if she had done so a million times, moving the hand from her shoulder to cup her face. 

Lio felt the hesitation in her hand from the way it slightly hovered above her skin. Things weren’t quite the same. 

“Hey, I’m…” She didn’t quite know where to start, “I didn’t mean… what I said. About you and Gueira.” 

Meis sighed softly, “Yeah, I know. I figured you were, y’know. Going through it.”

“That’s an understatement.” Lio scoffed, rolling her eyes. 

Meis capped her lipstick, removing her hand from Lio’s face. “I’m guessing you were also going through it after running off? With…”

Lio didn’t want to hear her name right now. She shook her head before Meis could finish her sentence, leaning against the counter of the bathroom. “Doesn’t really matter anymore.” 

“Still.” Meis glanced at the broken tiara on the counter before turning back to her own reflection in the mirror, running a hand through her hair. “Sucks. ‘M sorry.”

Lio idly wondered if she meant it, but decided that that didn’t matter, either. She clicked her heel against the floor once, twice, before asking, “Are you - I mean, are you and Gueira… Are you two doing anything after this?”

“Gueira just left, actually. Promised to be home early for something.”

Lio looked up from the floor, catching Meis’ eyes in the mirror. Her gaze betrayed her nonchalant tone, as if talking all on their own like before. 

Lio’s skin was still warm where Meis had touched it a few moments ago. Things weren’t the same, and yet - 

She followed after Meis wordlessly, holding onto her hand tight. 

**Author's Note:**

> my comm info is on twitter @zeachpin !


End file.
